Cigarette lighter and flint supply indicator therefor



May 8, 1956 A. SALZER CIGARETTE LIGHTER AND FLINT SUPPLY INDICATOR THEREFOR Filed Oct. 30, 1953 "WET E A wf INVENTOR. ALEXANDER SALZER United States Patent i oIGARE'r-TE LIGHTER AND rLlNr. SUPPLY g INDICATOR THEREFOR v AlexandersalzergNewYork,N.Y. Y 1 Application october 30,1953, serial No.= 389,249 renin. v(Cl.^67;7.1)

`,Thisinvention relates to 4cigaror'cigarette lighters, and, more particularly, hasreference;to a lighterY having .means 'incorporated therein that` facilitates inspection to determine `the amount of `lli'nt'remaining within `the .which neednot' b e removednits entirelywhen vone'deg ,siresio ascertain-fthe extent ,of flint remaining in the lighterf'butwhich is -insteadiprovided with a tubular member slidable outwardly .in such a mannerasto indicate readily theY amount ofitlintr remaining,r without clisturbingin anyway of the flint spring or .theflintsforced .bysaidspringinthe direction. of the Hint wheel.

A further, object Yof- -importance is'to provide asupplyindicatingZilint tube'assemblyasstated which isadapted .to.`,hold.a,substantialfnumber of ilintswithin the lighter, with. .each ilintbeing automatically *fed into position .against--.the.ilint wheel on consumptionof -thedlint immefdiately ,thereabove y i Y' ...Another vkobject-is rto utilize the` outwardly slidable supply-indicating vrmember '-asxa rotatable handle that serves to adjust -theflint spring.. follower-in the direction .ofthe.` flint wheel to take `up.- for consumption. of the ints. u

. For. ,further vcomprehension-.offthe` invention, and Aof ,the objects vand .advantages thereof, wreference will be had :tothe following description and 4accompanying drawings, and-to.theappended claim in which-the Various novel featuresfof the invention are more particularly set forth.

Y In. the accompanying drawings forming.v a material' part of thisrdisclosure: f l

t grFig. isfa-sideelevational viewtofiarlighter formed :in accordance with thefinvention, partfbeing.brokenl away andthe flint tube assembly being shown inflongitudinal section.

Fig. 2fis\ a..sectional-viewsubstantially on :line 2-2 of Fig. 1, the dotted .linesshowing the Vposition of the parts when the supply of flints is being checked.

ll-`1ig3 'sf-atbottomplan..viewfof the'lighter. l n ig."4` isQariA enlargedvseetionalview-taken transversely through the -fiint -tube--assembly, substantially `ou Aline 4-4 of Fig. 2. f

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse sectional view through the flint tube assembly, substantially on line 5--5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the inner portion of the flint tube assembly.

"ice

Fig. 7 is afragrnentary longitudinal sectional view of a lighter showing a modification.

Fig. 8 is a'sectional view on line 8-8 of Fig. 7. `Atl 1t), there has beenfgenerally designated a'lighter having'an outer casing 12, top and bottom walls 14, 16, a.. triggering assembly 18, ilint wheel 20, and wick 22. These parts of the lighter are conventional, it being understood that on depression of the trigger, the Hint wheel is lrotated to strike a spark simultaneously with elevation 'of the wick cap. The lighter could as wellbe of the `type wherein the flint wheel is manually rotated, with the wick cap' being manually `lifted olf the wick .to expose the same, the illustrated lighter beingmerely representative of jonektype of. lighterin which the invention can be advantageously employed. f

The outer casing of the lighter is filled with cotton wadding 24, as usual, and access to said wadding for the purpose of saturating the same with fluid is obtained by removal of aller plug 26 normally recessed in a circular openingZS of a bottom plate 30 fixedly secured to and overlying thebottom wall of the outer casing.

' Extending from top to bottom of the outer casing, and

-fixedly secured at its opposite ends to the'top and bottom walls thereof, is an open-ended flint tube housing 32 of cylindrical form, provided from end to end thereof with internal threads 34. vThe upper end of the housing 32 uabuts against-the underside of the top wall 14, said top wallhavinga small opening 35 concentric with thehousing 32, through which opening the uppermost flint of a supply of flints F projects into engagement with the ilint wheel, The lower end ofthe. housing 32, however, is fully open forinsertion of aint tube 36 thereinto.

i' The flint tube 36 isexternally smooth-walled and has ,an outer diameter distinctly less Vthan the inner diameter of. the flint tube housing, thus to permit the flint tube .to

,be freely slidable in the direction of its length between one extreme position (shown in full lines in Fig. 2) in ,which itis fully recessedwithin the housing, and lany .ofa number of positions (one of which is shown-.in `Adotted lines in Fig.. 2) in which itis partially extended out of the-housing. 'y -Atits Outerend, the flint tube is rigid withra vflat, circular cap 38 which can be peripherally kuur-led to .facilitate grasping of the-same, said cap, 'in therecessed lllinttube position, being seated iuran opening-40ct 4the bottom plate30. v n At diametrically opposite locations thereon, the' flint .tube isformed with longitudinalslots 42 extending substantially the full -length thereof. The slots -are closed atone end by the cap 38, as best shown in Fig. 6,' and at their otherends terminate just short of-the upper end-of the tube, so as to'dene, at the 4upper ends -ofzsaid slots,

abutments 44.

Housed in the ilint tubefis a supply of conventional flints F. vIn the illustrated example,` ve flints are contained within theflint tube. However, more .or fewer lfiints canzbe placed therein, it beingpossible, in the illusftrated example, 1 to charge the .tube V.with f as ymany. as Aeight .against one another in: end-toend,y abutting-felation, tby

pressure exerted against the lowermost of the seriesflof ilints'by a intspring .held under compression infthe :flinttube;

"A ilintspring'followerl of circularlformation{Fig-4) fis snuglybut slidably 'aiittedwithin `the flint tube, fand wardly within the lower end of a int spring 52 to center the same upon the follower. The liint spring, at its upper end, receives a depending stud formed on a fnt support plug or tip 54 abutting against the lowermost flint F.

As shown in Fig. 6, the tlint tube can be calibrated throughout its length as at 56, so as to be provided with a scale composed of uniformly spaced markings having associated therewith numerals ascending in order from the lower to the upper end of the int tube.

In use of the lighter, and assuming that the flint tube assembly is to be charged with a completely new supply of tlints F, one first pulls the hint tube 36 outwardly from its recessed position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and rotates the same in a direction to thread the follower 46 downwardly within the flint tube housing 32, until said follower is detached from the housing. This permits all the parts shown in Fig. 6 to be removed bodily from the lighter casing, and a new supply of iiints F can be dropped into the upper end of said flint tube.

The llint tube is now slid baci; into the int tube housing, for part of its length, and the projecting portion of the int tube is now rotated in a direction to threadedly engage the radial follower lugs with the threads of the housing. Continued rotation of the flint tube in the same direction causes the follower to move upwardly to shift the uppermost int against the flint wheel, the follower spring compressing near the end of the upward travel of the follower to exert pressure tending to hold the iiints against the wheel. The iiint tube, when further rotation of the follower becomes difhcult owing to movement of the spring to a condition approaching closing of its convolutions, is then slidably shifted inwardly of the housing to its fully recessed position.

During regular use of the lighter, one can check the supply of flints merely by pulling the flint tube outwardly. Thus, assuming that there are five ints left in the lighter, the int follower will be approximately positioned as shown in Fig. 2. As a result, the flint tube can be pulled outwardly a distance slightly more than half its length, before the abutments at its upper end are engaged by the radial lugs 48 to limit further outward movement of the flint tube. One need merely, then, inspect the calibrations and under these conditions will note that the marking will be exposed at the inner end of the projecting portion of the flint tube. This will signify to the user that there are tive ints remaining within the flint tube.

It will be noted that periodically, one rotates the flint tube to move the follower further upwardly within the same, to take up for consumption of the ints. rFhis can be done at the time the dint supply is to be observed, after the flint tube has been pulled out and before the calibrations are checked. Each adjustment of the follower in the direction of the flint wheel will, of course, reduce the distance the dint tube can be pulled outwardly. Thus, if there is only one ilint remaining, the follower will be located near the upper end of the tiint tube, and the flint tube can be pulled out only a very short distance before the abutments 44 engage the follower. Under these conditions, only the marking l would be seen. Conversely, if there Aare perhaps eight flints in the lighter, the follower will be near the lower end of the flint tube, thus allowing the liint tube to be pulled outwardly a substantial distance to expose the mark- In Figs. 7 and 8, all parts are formed as in the Fig. l embodiment, with the exception that there is, within the flint tube 36, a tiint guide cylinder 58. This extends the length of the tlint tube, and is formed with slots 60 4 aligned with those of the flint tube. At its upper end, the cylinder 58 is rotatably engaged in an opening of the top wall of the casing, said upper end of the cylinder having a tiange 62 seating against the outer surface of said top wall.

The tlints are engaged in the cylinder, and when the iiint tube is pulled outwardly, said iiints will be held in a straight line by the cylinder. The cylinder will, of course, rotate with the flint tube whenever necessary, due to the extension of radial lugs 48 through slots 60.

It will be understood that any suitable means can be employed to hold the intltube in its normally recessed position. For example, the cap 38 can be frictionally engaged with the wall of the opening 40 in which it is normally seated. Or, in some lighters the casing 12 is itself housed in an outer shell, not shown, which would hold the flint tube in a recessed position.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise constructions herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as delined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

In a cigar and cigarette lighter, a casing having top and bottom walls with aligned openings therein, a int wheel supported on the top wall of the casing over the opening therein, an internally threaded cylindrical flint tube housing ixedly mounted in the casing and extending from the top to the bottom walls and opening through the opening in the bottom wall of the casing, a smoothwalled flint tube substantially coextensive in length with the housing and freely slidable in the direction of its length into and out of the housing, said int tube having diametrically opposed longitudinal slots, a cylinder inside said int tube for housing the ints of the lighter and for guiding same to the flint wheel, said cylinder having slots aligned with the slots in the int tube, and tlint follower means threadedly engaged with the housing and mounted in the cylinder, said follower means engaging the flint tube on movement thereof out of the housing so as to signify, by the extent to which the int tube can be pulled outwardly, the amount of flint remaining with in the cylinder, said follower means including a follower threadedly engaged with the housing, a spring supported on said follower, a nt support tip carried by said spring, the follower being formed with a circular center portion housed in the cylinder and engaged by the spring, diametrically opposed lugs on the follower projecting through the slots in said cylinder and flint tube, said lugs having arcuate outer end surfaces threaded to effect engagement with the threads of the housing, indicia spaced along the surface of the flint tube adjacent one of its longitudinal slots, the slots in said int tube being closed at their inner ends to define abutments engageable with the lugs to limit outward movement of the int tube, and a cap rigidly connected to the outer end of the flint tube closing the outer ends of the slots of said int tube and disposed exteriorly of the casing to facilitate grasping of the iiint tube.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 

